Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital dietitian earns CDE credential

Published: December 17, 2009

SITKA, Dec. 17, 2009 - Jennifer Skoog, a patient services dietitian at the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital in Sitka, has earned a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) credential from the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators. Candidates must meet rigorous credential and professional practice experience requirements to be eligible for the certification, which allows educators to use the CDE credential after their names.

Achieving the CDE credential demonstrates to people with diabetes and employers that the health care professional possesses distinct and specialized knowledge, thereby promoting quality of care for people with diabetes, the NCBDE said. Certified Diabetes Educators are health care professionals from a variety of specialties who teach people with diabetes how to manage their disease.

To earn the CDE credential, the health care professional must currently be employed in the field of diabetes self-management education and have a minimum of two years and 1,000 hours of work experience in the field before taking the credentialing examination. The CDE credential is valid for five years before it needs to be renewed.

Skoog is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and Licensed Dietitian (LD) with a Bachelor of Science degree in nutrition from the University of Minnesota. Before coming to SEARHC, she previously gained diabetes education experience working as a diabetes nutrition specialist at the International Diabetes Center in Minneapolis and working at a youth diabetes camp in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. She passed her Certification Examination for Diabetes Educators while attending the annual Alaska Area Diabetes Conference on Dec. 2-4 in Anchorage.

"I truly enjoy helping people take control of their diabetes and prevent complications," Skoog said. "Life is so much more than blood sugars and carbohydrates. If you take the time to keep diabetes in control, you can live more freely. SEARHC has given me the honor of trying to help people get to and stay on this healthy path."
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